1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and device for detecting the theft of a vehicle, that functions when a vehicle such as an automotive vehicle or the like type of mobile member/device, is stolen and is transported in a state where the main driving power is at rest (viz., the engine/motor is not running) and for detecting when the transportation of the stolen vehicle terminates.
2. Description of the Related Art
There have heretofore been proposed a variety of locks and alarm devices for detecting the theft of moving bodies such as automotive vehicles. However, in the event that these devices are deactivated when the vehicle is stolen, it is impossible to subsequently locate the vehicle after it has been driven or transported to another location.
In recent years, however, it has been made possible, as shown in FIG. 1, to specify the position of a mobile/moving body (hereinafter vehicle) by utilizing a GPS (global positioning system) as a position data-obtaining arrangement/means 14, along with a theft detector device which also utilizes the GPS.
To specify the location of the vehicle utilizing the GPS, however, it is essential that the vehicle 1 itself, includes the position data-obtaining means 14 that is capable of obtaining the necessary data related to the location of the vehicle from position data-offering means 50 (such as GPS satellite) and that the position data-obtaining means 14 is in operation. To operate the position data-obtaining means 14, a large amount of electrical power is necessary and, hence, it is a prerequisite that the main driving power 3 of the vehicle is usually in operation (the engine is running). However, the vehicle that is being stolen does not necessarily have its engine running, that is to say, does not have the main driving power 3 in operation, and is often transported with its main driving power at rest, by using a transporter such as a truck, a tow truck, a car carrier or the like.
In order to operate the position data-obtaining means in a state where the main driving power of the vehicle is at rest, there is no alternative but to directly supply electric power to the position data-obtaining means from a battery 4 of the vehicle. Therefore, if the position data-obtaining means 14 is maintained in operation at all times even when the main driving power 3 of the vehicle 1 is at rest, electric power continues to be consumed at all times even while the vehicle is parked for extended periods of time thus inducing the problem of completely discharging the battery 4.
FIG. 2 shows an arrangement for solving this problem. There has been proposed a device for detecting the theft as taught in, for example, Japanese Patent No. 2665478. Namely, in case an abnormal condition such as the theft of the vehicle is detected in a state where the vehicle 1 is parking for extended periods of time with the main driving power 3 at rest, the electric power is supplied from a battery 4 to a unit (e.g., navigation ECU) that corresponds to position data-obtaining means 14 to obtain the data related to the position of the vehicle, and the obtained data of position is transmitted from communication means 15 to the owner of the vehicle or to a security company (hereinafter referred to as owner or the like) via a data intermediation unit 30. Namely, according to the above prior art, the electric power is not constantly supplied to the position data-obtaining means 14 in a state where the main driving power 3 of the vehicle 1 is at rest but, instead, the electric power is supplied only at selected times when abnormal condition such as the theft or the like is detected by the theft detector arrangement, to suppress-attenuate the discharge of the battery 4.
According to the prior art (1) shown in FIG. 1, however, the electric power is supplied to the position data-obtaining means 14 at all times, even in a state where the main driving power is at rest. Even according to the prior art (2) shown in FIG. 2, the electric power is maintained supplied to the position data-obtaining means 14 after the abnormal condition is detected arousing a problem in that the electric power of the battery 4 continues to be drained and the battery is quickly discharged. If this known position data-obtaining means 14 is used, the battery 4 tends to be discharged in several hours on average after it has started operating, whereby the position data-obtaining means 14 no longer continues to function, making it impossible to obtain or transmit the data related to the position of the vehicle 1 that is stolen/stolen.
What is important in case the vehicle 1 is stolen is that the position of the vehicle 1 is reliably transmitted to the owner and the like, so that the owner and the like may recover the vehicle. At present where systematic thefts are rampant, several days or longer are, in many cases, required before the vehicle can be located after the occurrence of the theft. Therefore, it is a problem if the battery 4 becomes discharged in a number of hours following the theft and the position data-obtaining means no longer works. Further, in order to discover the vehicle 1 that is stolen, it is important to know the position where the vehicle has finally stopped moving after having been transported rather than to be informed of the constantly changing position of during the transport.